We caught up with some voters in Madison on Election Day to hear their thoughts on practicing their civic duty.
Voters | Madison, WI
“Although this is a primary, the whole country is looking at Wisconsin right now. We’re the only state voting today, so we can definitely make an impact. People are looking to us, to which way we’re going to go. That will have an influence on how other people vote.”
-Margo | Madison, WI
“Today is an exciting day. It’s my first time voting. You hear a lot about election day, but you don’t know what it’s really all about until you actually go do it. I felt pretty powerful. I felt like I did something and it mattered. That was really cool.
I know some people are discouraged to vote because they feel isolated. Or they might think that their vote doesn’t matter. To me, it’s important because every vote that doesn’t get cast is like a voice that doesn’t get represented.
I see myself as somebody that’s active, that will advocate for the things that I value. I’m going to be a lifelong voter.”
-Garrett | Madison, WI
Become part of the Love Wisconsin
Family
“Whenever I’m in the voting booth I always feel this sense of empowerment…like I’m doing something with purpose and I’m doing something that is really meaningful. There’s such a long history of people fighting for the right to be able to do this. It’s an act I want my son Felix to be able to be part of and to see it. Even though he doesn’t quite understand it yet, I hope it’s imprinting.”
-Finn | Madison, WI
“My parents moved here from another country. They always voted, even in the littlest of elections. Now it’s really important to me to honor that lesson. I want to pass that on to my daughter, too.
A couple of weeks ago she and I read a picture book about voting and she learned that women were once not allowed to vote. She was outraged, all kinds of upset. But I shared with her that we can now. And we should do so, so that we can always maintain those rights.
I took her with me this morning, so she could be a part of it. She had some very strong opinions about who she would vote for if she could. I considered them. She made some good points.”
-Mary | Madison, WI
“We’re here to vote, and I have my daughter Netta with me today. I brought her as a little civics lesson. I want her to think about voting as something that we always do, whenever there’s an opportunity. I want it to become habit to her. We’re going to put other things aside, and the most important thing to do is go vote because it controls everything that happens in this country.
This is the system that we have, and this is the way that our voice is heard in that system. It’s the strongest way that we can make our viewpoints be known in both Wisconsin and in Washington. To me it’s kind of the most important thing we do all year.”
-Kerry and Netta | Madison, WI
